Ensign asks for help with legal bills

Embattled Sen. John Ensign, blaming a prominent watchdog group for his troubles, is asking supporters to help pay his legal bills from parallel criminal and ethics investigations into the fallout over his extramarital affair with a former aide.

Ensign, who went public over his affair with Cindy Hampton in June, 2009, sent out a fundraising appeal last week seeking contributions to his legal defense fund.

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The solicitation was first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In a letter seeking as much as $10,000 from individual donors, Ensign said he has “been accused of doing things I absolutely did not do.”

Ensign added that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group that Ensign called a “liberal organization,” has “filed an ethics complaint against me, which has led to considerable legal fees.”

“I have paid those fees personally up to this point. And as difficult as it is for me to ask you, I need your help to refute those charges and wage a successful legal defense,” he said.

Ensign is under investigation by the Justice Department and Senate Ethics Committee. Doug Hampton, husband of Cindy Hampton and a former Ensign staffer, said the Nevada Republican promised to find him lobbying work after he left Ensign’s office in April 2008. Doug Hampton has accused Ensign of violating a one-year lobbying ban imposed on senior aides once they leave Capitol Hill.

The Hamptons sought millions of dollars from Ensign, the son of a wealthy casino owner, but Ensign refused to pay. His parents, however, did give $96,000 to the Hamptons and their children.

Ensign went public with news of the affair a year ago after Doug Hampton contacted Fox News to disclose the affair with his wife and its aftermath.

The Justice Department is investigating Ensign over his dealings with Doug Hampton after he left the senator’s office, as well as Ensign's activities as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. POLITICO recently reported that Ensign's colleague, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), turned over e-mails and other documents on Ensign and Doug Hampton to the FBI. Coburn was asked by Doug Hampton to act as intermediary when the two sides tried to negotiate a financial settlement.

In response to Ensign's letter, CREW released a statement blasting him.

“Sen. Ensign had an extended affair with a campaign staffer, who happened to be married to his chief of staff, Doug Hampton, fired them both and had his parents pay them off without properly reporting it to the Federal Election Commission,” said CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan. “He then conspired to help Mr. Hampton to set up a lobbying business to lobby his own office, in violation of federal law. So what exactly are the things that Sen. Ensign is being accused of that he did not do?”

“The case against Sen. Ensign has nothing to do with the fact that he’s a Republican and everything to do with the fact that he’s corrupt,” Sloan went on. “Much like CREW has called for Congressman Charles Rangel to step down, it’s time for Sen. Ensign to look in the mirror, stop blaming other people, finally take responsibly for his actions and resign.”